Umami Mart

It’s that time of month again- UmamiventureTime! I figure the best way to stave off the bitter January cold (ha!) would be a day of vodka and whiskey tasting. Ok, ok, it’s just another excuse to get us all drunk. There could be no better way to kick-off 2010 together. Seriously though– I’m really excited […]

Perhaps you were thinking that the cocktails presented here in Happy Hour are too fussy. And perchance you wondered if there are drinks you could make that could astonish your tastebuds without inducing exhaustion from the process. You do, after all, have lots to do until the end of the year–plan the Thanks-stealing menu, prepare […]

Since childhood, the end of summer has always made me a little sad. I grew up in Los Angeles, so it wasn’t so much about the weather since the weather wouldn’t shift much after Labor Day the way it does here in New York. Rather, it was about the change of the feeling in the […]

Japanese mothers and grandmothers are hardcore. Every year they make their own liqueur and June is the month to start preparing. Starting in late May, supermarkets stock ume (Japanese plums) in bags of 1 kilogram which cost around 700-900 yen per bag, alongside cartons of white liquor. I decided to join the mama-san frenzy and […]

For Happy Hour this week I’ve created another cocktail for you that’ll help you get your spring on! I call it the Jalapeno-Pear Caipiroska. The Jalaheehowhatyousay? Is that Russian you ask? Well, yes and no. Read on my friends. If you’ve ever had a Caipirinha then you’re halfway there. If you haven’t then you need […]

This week we’re going to have a little fun during Happy Hour as we set aside the history lessons and cocktail lore, along with all notions of cocktail purism and snobbery, to indulge in a little cocktail hedonism. For those who gave up chocolate for Lent, you can take pride in your perseverance, for this […]

I recently had a conversation with a friend in which said friend mentioned to me that he’s not a big fan of “fancy cocktails,” but instead preferred the simplicity of two ingredient drinks, with his go-to choice being the grapefruit and vodka tag-team known as the Greyhound. Implicit in his tone was the notion that […]

Consider it a testament to Kayoko’s power of persuasion that I’m doing a Fridgin’ Out post. You wouldn’t otherwise know this, but for some time now I’ve been averse to the idea. The notion that strangers would open their refrigerators so other strangers can peer into them for no purpose beyond plain curiosity is a […]

You can tell from the cocktails featured over the past few weeks that I have had it with the nippy weather, mixing and imbibing as if summer were already in full swing–even if Mother Nature is still having trouble letting go. It’s my way of willing the warm weather into existence. I figure if I […]

From time to time I like to go back to the drawing board with certain cocktails and see if I can work in another twist while still maintaining the integrity of the original. The Bloody Mary is one of my favorite candidates for this, as it is a drink that lends herself to virtually infinite […]